Sad South vows to hit back

KINGSTON tennis ace Mel South's Wimbledon dream ended in tears as she fell at the first hurdle at the All England Club.

The 23-year-old British number four was narrowly beaten 7-5, 7-6 by world number 86 Mathilde Johansson, of France, in virtual darkness on Monday.

South's game had been squeezed on to one of the show-courts late in the day but after losing the first set, the New Malden-based star couldn't win a second set tie-break to take the match into another day and Johansson strode off court the victor at 9.20pm.

South had been in the form of her life this year, reaching the first rounds of the Australian Open and the French Open, before reaching the quarter-finals of the AEGON Trophy in Nottingham earlier this month.

But South - who was handed a wildcard into the main draw at Wimbledon - is adamant her defeat in SW19 will not ruin all her hard work in 2009.

"I'm pretty gutted about the defeat," she said.

"Going in there, everything was going well for me. I'd prepared really well and I felt really strong.

"I'm really upset with myself that I didn't really perform like I know I can.

"I've worked really hard in the last couple of months, and I couldn't really put that into

my play. The schedule didn't help me, but it was the same for everyone and I'm not going to complain about it."

South's impressive form on the tour this season saw her reach a career-high of 99 in the world listings in February after her Australian Open exploits.

But South - who reached the second round at Wimbledon in 2006 - has vowed to hit the practice

courts hard in a bid to banish her Wimbledon heartache.

"In terms of my career, I've only just started the hard training that is specific to me and I've made a lot of gains over the last couple of months," she added.

"By next year, I'll be in the best physical shape of my career and I think I'll be able to develop my tennis even further and show that I have got huge potential." ..SUPL: